2014: A Top Ten List

2013 was a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were parts that were very good and there were several that were…less so. I’ve spent the year trying to remember that I can’t control everything. I’ve also had to accept that some things just were not meant to happen (and to ignore all of the shit I can’t change – this has helped). As for the good parts: my blog stats improved (35,000 visitors, 4974 comments (though honestly they had nowhere to go but up and half of those comments are mine)), I traveled to several places (some new, some not: Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Montreal), I did some traveling around my home state (Telluride, Aspen, and The Stanley Hotel/Estes Park), I saw Bob Dylan in concert (this was a 30 before 30 goal), and I finished renovating four rooms in my house (11 more to go, anyone want to buy it?). As for the bad parts, I won’t go there, but I will say I finally broke down and cried when my dishwasher caught on fire. The silver lining? My house didn’t burn down.

I don’t typically make resolutions and this year will be no exception. I do set goals though. Specifically, I pick one goal each month and try and complete that (i.e. January’s goal is organization). This week’s top ten list: goals (bookish and not so bookish, as hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) for 2014.

I would like to grow blog readership. Do I have a plan on how to do this? No. So far I’ve been very lucky and met some really wonderful people who’ve stuck around. Thanks guys. You’re the best. Now I just need to figure out how to keep going without exhausting myself.

Have my blog be aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes I worry the only way to really accomplish this is to move to self-hosted. Ugh.

In the not so bookish resolutions, do something nice for myself once a month. I had my first facial last autumn and it was magical.

This will be an awkward one. Dress better. I spent about 30 hours a week working on site, but I spend about 15 hours a week working from home. It’s the home part that’s dangerous for me. I tend to take the yoga pants/men’s flannel/top knot approach (incidentally, that’s exactly what I’m wearing right now). Yep, I look like I never want to get laid again. The new rule: if I’d be too embarrassed to answer the door, don’t wear it.

Personal posts. Have more of them. I am an incredibly private person (even if it doesn’t always seem like it – see above). I’d like to figure out where to draw the line and I’m working on that, as I did in 2013. After all, this is a public blog, from my perspective, written by me – you’re not here for Jake Gyllenhaal’s opinion.

Attend BEA in May. I’m not super fond of NY or huge conventions, so this will be a challenge, but there are some great people going that I would love to meet.

Participate in no challenges. This may seem counterintuitive to point #2, but I had challenge overload in 2013 and didn’t like it. This year I’m reading whatever I want – within reason.